Like most people we've spent the last few days watching the news updates on the earthquakes and tsunami that have struck Japan. There are no words of sympathy and sadness big enough to encompass such tragic loss of life.
It feels as if the planet has gone a bit crazy lately, with earthquakes and other natural disasters making the news every month. It can start to feel a bit overwhelming and frightening, but then I think of the way I saw the Earth as a person in 2009 - a wonderful woman made from all the elements and all living creatures. She was overwhelmingly beautiful and powerful, but not in the least bit frightening. She only seems frightening to us because we expect her to stay static and unchanging.
I think the problem is that our lives are so short in comparison. Mother Earth thinks in millenia - we think in decades. The planet is and always has been constantly changing, evolving and growing, but we are here for such a short time that we don't really cope well with planetary sized change.
We could learn a lot from plants and animals. They cope with change by kind of "going with the flow". After the tsunami of 2004 almost no dead animals were found and several people told stories of animals fleeing before the tsunami arrived. Animals trust the warnings of Nature and they react instantly without questioning.
I think the problem is that our lives are so short in comparison. Mother Earth thinks in millenia - we think in decades. The planet is and always has been constantly changing, evolving and growing, but we are here for such a short time that we don't really cope well with planetary sized change.
We could learn a lot from plants and animals. They cope with change by kind of "going with the flow". After the tsunami of 2004 almost no dead animals were found and several people told stories of animals fleeing before the tsunami arrived. Animals trust the warnings of Nature and they react instantly without questioning.
"Danger is here - we run now."
We could learn a lot from remembering we are a part of those natural rhythms as well. We really are all connected.
We still have those instincts buried within our modern minds, we just need to relearn how to really listen and really see. We need to trust that Mother Earth can keep us safe if we treat Her with the respect and awareness She deserves. We talk about 'Saving the Planet', but truth is our planet is far more powerful than we are. We need her to save us as much as she needs us to listen her. We are as much a part of Nature as the animals and the trees, but we forget that fact as we dash about in our cars and cities. We are a part of Mother Earth - She holds us all.
lovely, Michelle.
ReplyDeleteIf we could remember beyond the costume we wear in this life, we could share Her perspective.
Just as a consoling parent is often vaguely amused by a child's momentary tragedy - knowing that in a moment the child will again be laughing - we can learn to 'hold' ourselves (and each other) through these events while maintaining the distance of knowing that what seems like a lifetime to us, is really just a flicker of time in the life in the soul we are.
It's really hard to stop and "smell the roses" when you're so busy with "life". That's one reason why I don't wanna go back to Indo - too many people and less nature.
ReplyDeleteHayden
ReplyDeleteI like how you put it. :-)
Amel
I could never live a frantic big city life either.
Animals are nomadic and have few roots and can go with the flow, while we are rooted.
ReplyDeleteTime to get rid of the flab and live lean & close to the ground.
captcha: scratere
True words, Shastri
ReplyDeleteI like your...
"Live lean and close to the ground"
Serpentine simplicity? ;-)